The Unexplored Path
by trueplaya
Summary: Three years after her people are massacred by bandits, the Lorca tribe's sole survivor will stop at nothing to ensure that all bandits are wiped off the continent- but she's in for a lot more than just a simple revenge plot. AU
1. A Girl From the Plains

**Author's Note: My (shitty) take on Lyn's story in Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword, otherwise known simply as Fire Emblem. I'd like to think that no one else has thought of this idea before- if someone has, then we're looking at a plagiarism lawsuit. Also, this story is being told in third person (for now). This story, along with The Castle and An Unfortunate Affair, are stories that I will update whenever possible. On another note, I know the genres are Drama and Adventure, but I think this story will encompass more genres than that- it's just that two is the limit.**

"A Girl From the Plains"

June 17, Noon

Lyn, Mark

Sacean Plains

He left his home because he wanted to explore the world. Well, that and the profession he would be getting himself into pretty much required him to do so.

When he left three months ago, it seemed like a good idea- Mark wanted to follow in the footsteps of his older siblings and parents, becoming a tactician like all of them. Being the youngest, he would be the last to set out and begin his journey. For his sixteenth birthday, he received an iron sword and a Thunder magic tome. The next day, he took his newfound weapons, his cloak, some food, water and vulneraries and set out after saying goodbye to his parents, as well as his older brother and sister, who returned for the occasion.

Mark was somewhat scared to leave the hometown and family he'd grown to love over the years. But that part of his mind was overshadowed by the part that wanted to see the other side, to carry on his family's legacy, to meet new people.

Right now, however, the part that told him it was a bad idea was reigning supreme over his mind.

She couldn't leave, much as she wanted to.

Lyn had complicated feelings about the plains where she grew up in over the years. They were truly majestic, especially the sun was setting or rising. The grass was green, and the trees stood tall and proud, almost like inanimate guardians. There was no shortage of food, what with the wildlife and fresh fruit all about.

There was just one problem- she was the only one living there. And while the plains remained beautiful on the outside, only Lyn knew of the horrors that haunted her homeland. Her father frequently told her that one day, she would lead the tribe, and by extension, the plains. He would go on to be half right.

It was an afternoon, just like any other. Lyn was walking back to her tent after a long walk. She had the usual thoughts in her head- what exactly was waiting beyond the plains, what were the people like, where could she find those goddamn bandits so she could-

Wait.

Who was this?

It looked like a boy, around her age as well.

Much to her amusement, he seemed to be having quite a difficult time. The boy was sweating profusely, and looked extremely dehydrated.

"Hot in… so hot in here…" She noticed that the boy had a foreign sounding accent, and strange looking clothes. It looked like he was wearing black boots and a very long brown coat. He clearly wasn't from the plains, she figured. Lyn also noticed the sword attached to his right hip.

The chuckling in her head stopped, however, when the boy suddenly collapsed onto the ground.

 _Oh god, that doesn't look good,_ Lyn thought to herself as she made her way over to the boy, who hadn't noticed her. _Okay, let's just take you back to my tent- my god, you're actually rather light. Looks like we will finally have a visitor…_

When Mark finally woke up, it was in the middle of the afternoon. While the sun hadn't set yet, it was on it's way down, and it was slowly getting darker outside, though it was still quite bright out.

 _Where the hell am I?_ Mark thought. _Alright, seems like a tent. I sure hope whoever lives here is-_ Mark stopped when he saw who had taken him in.

"Oh, uh, hello. I'm glad you're awake- oh, right, you must be incredibly thirsty. Here you go," Lyn said as she handed him a bowl with water inside of it.

For now, Mark's physical thirst outdid its figurative counterpart, and he drank from the bowl. He normally wasn't terribly awkward around others, but the girl who had taken him in was strikingly beautiful. _She's certainly much more attractive than the girls back home… wait, no! Focus, Mark! Don't let your training go to waste now, as beautiful as she is._

"Thanks for saving me back there. There wasn't any water in sight and it was incredibly hot outside," Mark said, trying to maintain his cool. He hoped he was doing a decent job of doing so- it was hard for him to keep his composure after being unexpectedly in the home of such a striking lady; he hadn't ever been involved with a woman in a romantic sense, after all, nor had the thought ever crossed his mind.

Of course, however, he had thoughts of women that he had either known or made up in his head- but they weren't exactly romantic. Mark didn't need to tell himself that this girl would be in his mind, with her long green hair, smooth skin, big green eyes, a beautiful face free of blemishes and very long, shapely legs, flaunted by her very simple looking blue shirt-dress…(Mark didn't have any better words to describe it, he just knew it looked good on her).

"It's nothing, I was just passing through. Would you mind if I asked your name?" Lyn asked.

"Oh, I'm Mark."

"Mark? It sounds foreign, but it's a good name nonetheless. I'm Lyn of the Lorca tribe."

"Well, I'm glad you were in the area, Lyn. But do you mind if I ask you a question?" Mark was genuinely curious about something, and his intuition told him Lyn knew what it was. _That, and she's the only person I can really ask,_ Mark figured before asking.

"Yes? What is it, Mark?"

"How come these plains are so… empty? I've seen a bunch of tents laying about, but no one's using them. So far, you're the only person here. I can only assume that people live here, or used to. So what…" Mark stopped when she noticed Lyn was suddenly trying to hold back tears.

"Hey, it's okay, you don't have to answer-"

"No, no, I will. You deserve to know," Lyn was struggling to speak, but she managed to do so anyway.

~Sacean Plains, Three years ago~

"Father, Mother, do you hear that?" Lyn asked her parents.

They both went silent, but Hassar and Madelyn both heard the bandits off in the distance.

"Lyn, stay here. I'm afraid you are too young to fight. Hide here; we'll let you know when it's safe. You know about the underground passage, right?" It was a rhetorical question- Hassar knew that Lyn knew about it.

"Yes, Father," Lyn said, the fear obvious in her voice and eyes.

"Don't be afraid. We will drive them off," Madelyn put her hand on her daughter's shoulder, something she always did when trying to calm her daughter.

Still fearful, Lyn went into the crawlspace that was under their tent. Now, ready for battle, Hassar and Madelyn stepped out and rang the village bell to alert everyone of the incoming bandits.

The Lorca tribe was ready for battle. They weren't ready, however, for what would happen next.

Suddenly, one of the women started coughing blood and collapsed to the floor. Then, in a matter of minutes, the entire tribe met the same fate- they were dead before the bandits even arrived. However, they eventually came to make sure that the Lorca tribe was dead, and also to raid whatever valuable possessions were lying around.

The bandits never checked the crawlspace, however.

~Present Day~

"It turns out they poisoned the village water supply. Since I had refilled my canteen beforehand, I was not affected, and I eventually found a different, clean, source. To this day, I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse if I lived through the massacre," The tears in Lyn's eyes stopped flowing, and her voice was now clear, but Mark still had his hand on her back, trying to comfort her.

"Oh my god. I'm so, so sorry about what happened to your village…" Mark trailed off; he didn't want to add on more words at the risk of sounding overbearing.

"For the past three years, it's just been me, alone on the plains. I've wanted to see the outside world for so long now, but I haven't. I kept asking, praying when the loneliness would be over.

"God, that's awful."

Silence.

Out of pity, attraction, and to pay her back for helping him, Mark decided to break the silence with an offer. "Lyn, I happen to be traveling. If you would like to come along with me, I'd love to have your company."

Suddenly, Lyn's face lightened up. "Really? Then yes, yes! Let me get my things, and then we can start moving again, okay?"

"Sure thing. I'll be waiting outside, and then we can go. Since there's still light, it's still safe for us to move out- maybe we can find a local town before night hits."

"Okay, Mark. I promise I will not take long!"

 _Wow, she is really excited about seeing what lies beyond. Well, I guess that makes two of us._

"I'm ready, Mark!" Her energy evidently not faded, Lyn emerged from the tent with a sheathed sword at her hip, and a bag slung over her shoulder containing food, water, and other various supplies.

"You can fight?" Mark asked, surprised.

"When my tribe was killed, I was not allowed to fight. For the past three years, I have been honing my swordsmanship in anticipation for the day that I will have to fight the bandits that took my family from me." Suddenly, she had a grim scowl on her face. "When I find out where they are hiding, there will be no survivors."

 _Right now, I don't know if I should feel terror, arousal, excitement or pity. Maybe all of them?_ Mark thought to himself. "Anyways Lyn, we should get going."

The two newfound friends began walking through the plains. Mark, having spotted a town off in the distance, began heading towards it, with Lyn in tow.

"So I take it you can fight as well, Mark?"

"Yeah. My family trained me in swordfighting, magic, and tactics."

"Oh. So you're a tactician then?"

"I am. Everyone's told me that I'm an average fighter, but a better tactician than my siblings. So, uh, forgive me if I'm a bit of a liability on the battlefield. When I turned sixteen three months ago, my family told me I was ready to get out there."

"Sixteen? Then that would make you younger than me, since this is my eighteenth year. If my tribe were still around, then I would be an adult right now. I could not fight when the bandits came because I was considered a child then, and the Lorca are- or were- very strict about not letting children on the battlefield."

"That's, well-" Mark was interrupted by Lyn's hand on his mouth.

Suddenly, Lyn went silent. She began looking around, as if she had spotted something in the distance for a moment before it went away. After a while, Mark slowly removed Lyn's hand from his mouth. _Her hand is actually rather rough. I guess it makes sense considering what she has to do every day- find food, water, maintain her tent..._ Mark noted.

"Lyn? What's wrong?" Mark asked, concerned.

"I hear footsteps in the distance."

After a moment, he spotted the source of the footsteps, and realized they weren't just a few friendly travellers. "Oh, shit, get behind that tree, now!" Mark whispered as Lyn followed him to cover.

"Why are we hiding, Mark?"

"They're armed with axes. Looks like we're dealing with bandits here by the looks of their weapons and clothing." Lyn didn't say anything, but her face went back to the scowl from before.

"Okay, there's three of them to our west, and they don't know we're here yet. Listen, here's the plan. I need you to take point. While you go aggressive up front, I'll be off in the back using my magic. Got it, Lyn?"

Mark looked behind him, only to see that Lyn had emerged from their cover and was charging straight towards the bandits, who had noticed her. _For fuck's sake..._

"Goddamnit Lyn, I wasn't finished going over the plan!" Mark cried out in frustration as he pulled out his Thunder tome. The magic itself came directly from the book, so even if one knew how to cast magic and where to aim it, a tome would still be needed.

Mark's cry, however fell on deaf ears, as Lyn was charging straight for the first bandit.

 _Okay, there's the first one. Now I'm just gonna aim and-_

Before he could finish that thought and the lightning bolt he was conjuring, Lyn had reached the bandit. When they met, the difference in skill was clear.

The bandit lacked proper training, and proved slow and clumsy in his movements. In contrast, while Lyn hadn't been fully trained by her parents and the rest of her village, she was much quicker and quite ferocious in taking down her opposition.

After stabbing him in the stomach with all her might, the bandit was left groveling in pain and in a pool of blood. But it wasn't enough for Lyn. She kept on viciously stabbing at him, hacking away at his chest until he was little more than a disfigured mess of flesh and blood.

She was so preoccupied with slashing away at the corpse that she didn't notice the other bandit charging at her.

"Lyn, look out!" Somehow, Mark was able to cast a lightning bolt, despite his shock at Lyn's violent killing of the bandit. Taking the warning, Lyn ducked down and the bolt killed him instead of her.

Mark would have been thinking about how he had just taken a life, and Lyn's disturbing fit of rage, but now there was a third bandit coming in.

"Who do you think you are? You think you can stand up to Batta the Beast?" The bandit, apparently their leader, asked before rushing towards Lyn and Mark.

"Wow, Batta the Beast. I'm sorry, but that nickname is truly pathet-" A narrowly missed swing of his axe towards Lyn stopped Mark from finishing his sentence. _Seriously, that nickname was so awful that I almost stopped thinking about the guy I just killed,_ Mark thought as he got to work crafting another lightning bolt.

Batta and Lyn began engaging in an intense duel to the death while Mark was quite literally working his magic in the back. Batta had greater physical strength, but Lyn still retained the edge in speed and agility.

The two were fighting to a stalemate, with neither able to land any blow at all, let alone a decisive, killing one. Mark was finally ready to fire off the bolt, but he couldn't find a clean opportunity to get Batta with Lyn's body in the way.

"Lyn, duck!" She complied, and the lightning flew directly into Batta's torso, leaving him stunned long enough for Lyn to stab him through the heart, killing Batta on the spot.

It was not enough to satisfy her, however. Still grunting in anger, she thrust the sword through his stomach several more times, and then began slashing at his throat and face. Batta's blood combined with the blood of the other bandit she had killed to create a red mess that was as fitting on her face as the hateful glare she wore.

Not too far away, Mark was utterly frozen in place. He was trying to comprehend what had happened and what was happening: he engaged in his first battle, killed someone for the first time, and Lyn grew violent in the presence of bandits, a far cry from the earnest, kind girl she had seemed to be.

Eventually, he grew the strength to stand up, and walked slowly towards Lyn, who was still ravaging Batta's corpse. "Lyn, stop!" She turned around and noticed Mark running towards her.

"Oh, good, you're unharmed."

"Wha- that's the first thing you have to say?" Mark said, shocked as he walked up towards Lyn, who was standing over the fallen bandit. When she stood up, Mark saw all the blood splattered across her body and clothes. "Oh my god, Lyn. What the fuck did you do?"

"I was simply making sure he was dead."

"Lyn, I don't think he'll be getting back up." For Mark, the shock didn't go away- it simply now had fear to accompany it, and the young "Oh, what do we do now? Those were Ganelon Bandits, they'll hunt us down when they realize we killed them, we're screwed! They are totally-"

"Calm down Mark, calm down," Lyn said, putting both her hands on his shoulders. "It's going to be fine, but we're going to need to keep moving."

"What? Keep moving?" Mark wasn't thinking straight; he still hadn't fully comprehended what had transpired.

"There could be more of them. If we stay, we may run into more bandits. For now, we need to keep moving until we get into that town you spotted out. Then, we should be able to find a place to stay in for the night."

Mark basically didn't hear Lyn- she was drowned out by everything else rattling in his head. One part of his mind kept replaying the scene of the bandit dying after his lightning bolt struck him.

The other part, meanwhile, was having a debate on whether he should stay with Lyn.

 _Mark, you need to stay with Lyn because it's obvious she has a problem. So, as a friend of hers, you should be there to help her. And aside from the bandit situation, she seems pretty nice so far. You could potentially be in much worse company, all things considered. Also, you'll stand more of a chance in a fight with her around- and you figure to be involved in many of those in the near future._

 _No, no way. Did you see her out there, Mark? Stay with her, and you'll guarantee yourself a spot on the Ganelon Bandits' hit list. She may appear to be all nice and pretty, but underneath all that there's someone who's been broken beyond repair. And, let's not forget, she turned you into a goddamn killer!_

"Come on Mark, let's go," Lyn said before continuing on towards the small town, using water to wipe the blood off her face and clothes in the process.

 _I guess I'll stay with you then, at least for when we're in the town,_ Mark thought to himself, finally having calmed down somewhat.

 _With my sword and your tactics, we'll rid the continent of every last bandit, and my tribe will be able to rest in peace,_ Lyn said to herself as she marched on.

 **Author's Note: Lyn's story- with a twist. This and An Unfortunate Affair will take update priority over The Castle, and I'm working on a fifth chapter for An Unfortunate Affair right now. Stay tuned, because we are taking it to the limit with these stories!**


	2. Footsteps of Fate

**Author's Note: Holy shit, I'm sorry I took so long to post an update for any of my stories. Have a chapter with more words and the same glorified mediocrity for your wait! Seriously, if you're still around after it took me two lifetimes to update, thank you. Anyways, if you've read my bio then you know about this, but I'm looking for people willing to proofread another story I'm working on that I haven't posted yet. PM me and I'll hit you up with the concept, details and first chapter ASAP.**

 **"Footsteps of Fate"**

 **June 17, Night**

 **Lyn, Mark, ?**

 **Bulgar, Sacae**

After some time, Mark and Lyn entered the village, and had subsequently calmed down from their affair with the bandits from earlier. Lyn went back to the girl Mark was introduced to in her tent, and Mark was trying to process just what the hell went on earlier.

For Mark, everything passed by like a blur, from their walk to the village to checking into the room. While it was starting to calm down, he was still hearing the cries of agony in his head.

Mercifully, after a while, it eventually stopped. At least he could think straight again.

 _Okay, I guess I'll stay with Lyn for now. If I can just get her to not go crazy around bandits, we should be fine, right?_

"Hey, Lyn?" Mark asked his companion, who was sitting across from him at one of the tavern's tables. They had just finished eating dinner.

"Yes, Mark? What is it?" Lyn replied. _At least he's talking now._

Mark hesitated for a moment to gather the words before speaking up. "Look, we need to talk about what happened back there. I mean, I saw what happened, and…"

Lyn had no response; Mark took it as a queue to keep going.

"What on earth drove you to stab him like that? You had already killed him, and then you just kept slashing away at his corpse."

Still no response from Lyn. Just an empty stare aimed at Mark.

"I don't know about you, but I'd rather live through all of this. If your line of thought is anywhere close to my own, then I think you'll stop hacking away at bandit corpses."

Suddenly, Lyn left the table and began heading upstairs towards their room.

"Hey, come on Lyn. Look, I'm sorry if I offended you, but I didn't mean to do so."

Once again, she remained silent as she opened up the door to their room, sitting down on one of the beds.

Mark began to grow frustrated at Lyn's responses- or, to be more accurate, lack thereof. "Lyn, you can't just act like that didn't happen!" Mark shouted.

Lyn stared at Mark for a brief second more, a blank expression on her face as Mark did the same. Not allowing Lyn to skirt around the topic any longer, he began to speak up.

"I think that at your core, you're a good person. But what you did back there, is wrong. When I decided to travel with you, I never signed up for that."

Though Lyn didn't say anything in response, she didn't move or do anything to suggest that she didn't want to listen to Mark. With that, he continued.

"I know that bandits killed your people, your friends, and your parents. And I want to help you avenge their loss, so that they can never harm anyone again. But we can't do it alone, and especially not if you pull stunts like that on a regular basis."

Once again, silence from Lyn. But this time, not for long, as she broke it with a remorseful expression on her face.

"I'm sorry, Mark. I don't know what came over me, but I just… I couldn't help it. I had to kill those bandits, and-" Mark cut her off when he noticed the tears in her eyes.

 _Now I feel like an ass for chewing her out,_ Mark thought to himself. _Great job, Mark._ "It's okay Lyn, I understand," Mark said as he wrapped his left arm around her shoulder, looking at her with a reassuring smile on his face. "I'll help you. We'll get through this together, okay?"

"Th-thank you Mark. You are truly a valuable friend." Lyn replied, tears still in her eyes, but now with a smile on her face as well. "Will you help me rid the land of the bandits that have terrorized the land for so long?"

Suddenly the smile fell from Mark's face. _Oh, wow… I, um, wasn't expecting that. I knew she had it out for bandits, but, well, damn. Does she seriously want the two of us to kill off all the bandits on the continent?_

He was about to refuse her offer, but being a tactician (or at least training to become one) he gave Lyn's proposal a second thought.

 _Actually, this may not be such a bad idea. As I've already seen, Lyn is more than just a capable fighter. She's also bound to have good survival skills, and probably has some connections to other Sacaen tribes, which will prove useful if we run into any nomads. Besides, we should run into other travellers who'll want to help our cause. And if we successfully ran the Ganelon and Taliver Bandits out of the continent, then I suppose that would make me a tactician._

 _Also, how can I say no to Lyn? She wants- no, NEEDS, to do this. And she wants me to join in her noble cause. Imagine how disappointed she would be if I refused her offer- she'd never want to see me again! Her problems would go unresolved for the rest of her life. I think that if we get rid of those bandits, then she'll get better. Her problems will finally be solved, and she can go on to live a happy life, which she deserves after everything she's been through._

After much thinking, Mark finally came to his decision. "Yes, Lyn, I'd be honored to help you," Mark declared, the smile returning to his face.

Lyn's smile went from bright to beaming after hearing Mark's decision. "Oh, Mark, thank you!" She said while embracing him. "With your help, we will avenge my fallen tribe!"

"Yes, we will. Now for starters, if you could stop your bloodlust when you see a bandit…"

~June 18, Morning~

With Mark's loyalty and their cause declared, both him and Lyn slept well that night. After a hearty breakfast and a warm bath, the two young travellers were ready to head out.

"Whoa, are those knights over there?" Mark asked curiously. Lyn looked to her left and noticed what looked like two cavaliers- one had red armor to match his hair, and the other had green hair and armor. Suddenly, the green clad knight began to approach her and Mark.

"Why hello there, lovely lady! How do you do today?" The knight asked. It seemed like he was trying too hard to come off as friendly, and instead sounded like a lecherous flirt.

Immediately Mark and Lyn distrusted the knight. "I'm doing fairly well today. Why do you ask?" Lyn replied politely, already bothered but trying to keep her composure.

"Oh, it's nothing really. I just thought it would be ill-mannered of me not to speak to such a fine young woman like yourself," the knight replied, still grinning. "Wait, speaking of manners, I haven't even told you my name yet- how rude! I am Sain, a knight of Caelin, home of chivalrous knights with passion and fire like myself and my partner Kent over there!" He proclaimed while gesturing towards Kent, who had been sitting back and observing his companion's flirting with wry amusement and slight shame up to this point, but moved closer to the trio now that Sain had called upon him.

"I think your flirting is infinitely more rude than the fact that you hadn't introduced yourself," Lyn replied, this time not as tactfully. "And it seems your homeland is home to more callow oafs with loose tongues than chivalrous knights."

Mark couldn't help but chuckle slightly at Lyn's replies. _I believe that is called "getting shut down."_

Though Sain had, in fact, been "shut down" as Mark put it, he either didn't know or didn't care.

"Oooh, even when you're being insulting you're still lovely. May I accompany you on your travels?" Sain asked Lyn, completely ignoring Mark in the process.

"Let's go Mark. I have nothing else to say to this man," Lyn said flatly before turning around and walking away, her tactician following behind her.

"Smooth moves, lady killer," Kent sarcastically chimed in. "I see you are upholding the knight's code quite well- truly, you would make a fantastic role model for the young knights in training.

"Hey, come on, I almost had her!" Sain responded.

"Yes, I'm sure she was fiercely debating in her mind whether or not the two of us accompany her on her journey."

"Kent, how do you ever hope to get married one day?" Sain asked, trying (and failing) to change the conversation's subject. "You seem to have next to no desire to pursue any woman at all!"

"No, Sain, I just happen to not be a lecherous imbecile like yourself. Perhaps if you didn't attempt to woo every girl on the continent, you would find one that's right for you."

"But you cannot find one if you do not look!"

"I do look. However, since it's not aimed up their dresses, I don't end up getting rejected, beaten, or both."

"Oh, come now Kent. You cannot deny that my flirting tactics are quite effective."

"On the contrary, I have been keeping track of your 'flirting tactics' over the past two months. You have attempted to woo forty seven girls, and none of them have taken themselves to your bedroom or you to theirs. Twenty eight of them have physically retaliated to your advances in some way, and four of them reported you to the local militia for public indecency."

After hearing Kent's breakdown of his failed attempts to woo women, Sain didn't know whether to feel sad at his ineptitude or impressed with Kent's attention to detail. So, once again, he tried to change the subject.

"It's such a shame that Lyn turned me down, it really is. She was truly beautiful, you know. Long green hair to match her eyes, a pair of lovely legs, and the face of an angel. To top it off, whoever made her clothes clearly has good taste. It's obvious that she's from Sacae."

 _Yes, I suppose she was quite attractive,_ Kent thought to himself, before coming to a sudden realization. "Wait, Sain, are you sure she looked like that?" He asked, an urgency in his voice that hadn't been present before.

"Why, of course I am Kent! I never forget what a beautiful girl looks like, after all."

"Can you repeat that description?" Kent asked, an idea starting to formulate in his mind.

"Ah, so you're captivated by her beauty as well. That makes two of us. She had green hair and eyes, very nice long legs, and that face is the embodiment of perfection. It also seemed like she was from Sacae, looking at the clothes she was wearing."

 _That description… there's no doubt in my mind that it's her!_ Kent thought to himself, having connected the dots. "Sain, we need to talk to her as soon as possible!"

"Ah, so now you'd like to try your hand at wooing her? Good on you, it's about time you try and find the right woman for-" Sain, unfortunately, was cut off by his partner.

"No, you idiot, she's the girl we're supposed to be looking for!" Kent shouted.

"Wait, we were supposed to be looking for a girl?" Sain asked, genuinely surprised.

Kent gave off a frustrated sigh as he mounted his horse. "You're hopeless, you know that? Marquess Hausen sent us out to find his granddaughter, and the girl you tried to flirt with back there fits his description of her perfectly!"

"Oh, that's right. Wait, did he mention her having perfect legs?"

"No, he didn't, but everything else you said matched her description. Now get ready, we have to catch up to them before they get too far away from us!" Kent said, having now mounted his horse with his sword ready. "I've spotted them over there, follow me!" A moment later, he had taken off at full speed.

"I do believe you are in love, my friend- and that would make two of us. But for now…" In under a minute, Sain was riding at full speed behind Kent.

~Outside Bulgar, Morning~

"Unbelievable! How can trained knights possibly be so rude?!" Lyn cried in disbelief. As no one had ever flirted with her before, it was quite the odd feeling, especially given that the person in question was a total stranger.

"You mean knight. The other one didn't try to flirt with you," Mark replied quickly. He would be lying if he didn't feel slightly angered at Sain's attempts to woo Lyn.

"What a lecher he was! I sincerely hope that not all knights are like him," Lyn said, still annoyed over the events that had taken place earlier.

Mark pulled out a small mirror (he had purchased one while in the town, as it was quite cheap and would prove quite convenient for maintaining appearances) and looked at himself to make sure he had properly washed himself and there weren't any unwelcome scars on his face. After briefly checking up on his appearance, he was about to put the mirror away, but kept it out when he noticed something tucked off in the mirror's bottom left corner. "Oh, no…"

"Mark? What's wrong?" Lyn asked, her tone of voice shifting from appalled to concerned.

"Look here," Mark responded while gesturing to the mirror. "It's those knights from before- I think they're following us."

It took Lyn a moment, but she eventually spotted and recognized the knights due to their horses and distinctive armor. They were trying to be subtle about it- using the trees as cover, pretending to look elsewhere, and making sure not to get too close. However, there was no mistaking their identities.

"Ridiculous. Will they never stop pestering us? I'll make sure that flirt never speaks again," Lyn said angrily, preparing to draw her sword. However, she was interrupted by Mark's hand.

"Don't. These aren't random bandits, they're trained, disciplined knights. I don't like our chances in a fight here," the tactician explained.

"But we can't hope to outrun them, they're on horseback," Lyn replied.

 _Damn, she makes a good point. Think, Mark, think! What should I do here?_ He mulled over his next decision for about twenty seconds more before making it. "Lyn, let's keep walking for now so we can be sure if they're following us or not. If they keep at the same pace and distance behind us by the time we reach that forest over there," Mark said while pointing to a collection of trees in the distance, "then we can be sure we're being followed. And if they are, don't make it obvious to them that you know. If we're able to find a horse or two, we have to try and take it. Our chances of losing them on horseback are better than fighting them right now. Got it?"

"Got it," Lyn said quickly, to Mark's relief. _Thank god she's not going completely bloodthirsty right now._

"Actually, I almost forgot. You can ride a horse, right?" Mark asked, mentally chastising himself for getting one rather large detail.

"Yes, I can. You?"

"Yeah, I've had some training. I wanted to be sure just in case."

The two of them kept walking in silence, glancing at the mirror every so often to see that the cavaliers were still on their tails. Eventually, after about fifteen minutes of walking (in which they had gotten halfway towards the forest) they noticed two people riding a horse.

"Alright Lyn, let's see if we can get their horse. I'm going to try and negotiate with them first, and if that doesn't work, we take it by force. Okay?"

Lyn nodded in approval as they made their way towards the pair on horseback.

"Why hello there fellow travellers, how are you two doing today?" Mark asked in his friendliest tone of voice with a big grin on his face.

"Oh, we're doing very well today, thank you for asking!" Exclaimed the girl on horseback. She seemed quite energetic, especially in comparison to her partner.

"I beg to differ. This girl's nagging will kill me before any bandit does," the boy replied sarcastically.

"Hey shut up, I'm just trying to keep things positive, okay?!" The girl fired back, sounding quite annoyed.

Before the boy could form another snide response, Mark spoke up. "Excuse me, I know this is a big request, but could we have your horse? We are terribly tired travelers and-"

"No," the boy responded curtly.

"Well, I do happen to have some gold on me. Name your price," Mark said, pulling out his pouch of gold coins while also assessing the two travellers. _The girl only has a healing staff, so she won't be a threat. But this guy has a tome on him. If he won't give us the horse, then Lyn and I just have to take care of him and the girl can't do anything._

"I'm afraid he's not for sale," the boy stated, sounding more annoyed the second time around.

 _Well then, you give me no choice._ Mark leaned in closer to Lyn to whisper in her ear. "We both get the guy. The girl can't fight."

"Hey, what are you two planning?" The boy asked, putting his right hand halfway towards his coat where his tome was.

He got a response, but it was physical instead of verbal. Mark punched the tome out of his right hand and onto the ground, and Lyn soon tackled him off the horse. With the mage out of the way, the cleric stood no chance against the two armed travelers and she was forced to give it up.

"Erk, aren't you supposed to be my bodyguard? Those two just robbed our horse and you did nothing!" The cleric shouted.

"There was two of them, I was outnumbered. And what did you do to try and stop them, Serra?" The purple haired boy asked of his client.

Before they knew it, Kent and Sain were speeding up and blew right by the now grounded pair. "Hey, you two! Give these travelers their horse back this instant, or you will both be arrested!" Kent shouted.

"Wait, those are knights! They're going to help us get our horse! Come on Erk, we have to join them!" Serra exclaimed, dragging Erk by the hand with her.

"Ugh, what in god's name have I gotten myself into?"

~Outside Bulgar, Afternoon~

"Crap, we're being chased by the knights and those two travellers!" Mark shouted, watching behind while Lyn focused on what was in front.

"We'll have to outrun them both!" Lyn responded as she guided the horse through the plains.

No one could gain any real distance towards or away from each other. Well, except for Erk and Serra. Since they had to run instead of riding on horseback, the two of them were rapidly losing ground. Not helping matters was the fact that Serra was a cleric and Erk a mage, so the duo wasn't terribly adept at physical activity.

"Lyn, this horse is going to get tired eventually! We have to shake them somehow!" Mark stated.

"I'm trying, but I can't get away from them! We're just in a big field right now with no terrain!" Lyn replied.

"Alright Lyn, try to keep the horse steady! I'll try to hit them or get them to lose ground with my magic!" Mark shouted, readying his tome.

"Okay, got- wait, Mark, look out! In front of us!" Lyn said, surprised at the sudden appearance of bandits.

Mark turned around to see what Lyn saw just a moment ago. "Oh, shit!" He cried out as Lyn took a sudden turn, just barely avoiding a hand axe in the process.

"We're surrounded, Mark! We have the knights and those travellers on one side, and these bandits on the other! What should we do?"

"Fight the bandits! I don't trust those knights and the travelers can't be too fond of us, but they're a better bet than brigands!"

"Got it!" Lyn said as she jumped off the horse, being more comfortable fighting on the ground. Mark soon followed suit- he had some training in fighting on horseback, but he was definitely less comfortable when he did it.

Noticing that there was still some distance between them, the bandits, and their other pursuers, Mark pulled Lyn aside and started to tell her his plan he had formulated. "Okay, we gotta take care of these guys as fast as possible. If they haven't caught up to us when we're done with these brigands, we get back on the horse and keep running. Anyways, these guys are split up, so we should be able to isolate them and-"

When Mark looked up, he saw that once again, Lyn was already fighting a bandit, having ignored his plan.

"Goddamnit Lyn, what the fuck?! What the fuck did we just fucking talk about, Lyn?! Didn't I just fucking tell you not to rush in like that?!" Mark shouted in frustration as he readied his tome and sword, preparing a magic spell.

Just like last time, Lyn fought with a bloodthirsty rage. She had devoted so much of her attention to killing the first bandit (and slashing away at his corpse a few more times to ensure he was dead) that she failed to notice a second bandit coming up to her left. Luckily, Mark fired off a thunder bolt just before he was able to raise his axe against the unsuspecting girl.

"Lyn, snap out of it!" Mark shouted urgently, pleadingly.

But she ignored his warning- there were another two bandits in front of her. _These men must be cut down. No, no, they are not men. They are inhuman. Animals. And they should be executed like such- every last one of them._

She was about to charge into both of them, but suddenly a javelin went flying into one and Kent's sword went down the throat of another, turning them both into bloody piles on the ground in a matter of seconds.

"Well hello again, lovely lady! It warms my heart to see your beautiful face once more," Sain declared loudly.

"When we are done fighting off these bandits, you will give those two travellers their horse back. Understand?" Kent followed up.

Lyn nodded in agreement, but the whole situation was so bizarre that she really didn't understand, despite her reply. If anything, she did it more so she could redirect her energy to the bandits at hand.

"Hey, don't forget about us!" Serra shouted, her and Erk having finally caught up.

"Actually, please do," Erk managed to gasp out in between moments of panting. "I think I'm done for…"

"Oh, shut up Erk. Be a good bodyguard and fight these guys so we can get our horse back."

"Ugh, fine. Just remember Serra, the cavaliers are our allies- everyone else is the enemy."

"Not quite, my friend! The people who stole your horse shall help us fend off these scoundrels and then your loyal steed will be returned to his rightful masters," Sain said in his best regal voice, looking at Serra the whole time with a friendly smile on his face.

Serra shot him one back. "Okay, you got it!"

Mark and Lyn were both in earshot of the conversation between their four pursuers. "So now they are helping us?" Lyn asked, clearly confused.

"Yeah, I guess they are- for now, at least. My gods, what is happening?" Mark replied.

"If you all are done talking, then we have bandits to take care of. I'd rather not have them kill us while we have a lively discussion," Kent said, reminding everyone of the immediate danger approaching them.

With the six of them (temporarily) united, the undisciplined bandits proved no match for Kent and Sain's mobility, Erk and Mark's magic, Serra's healing staff, and Lyn's swordplay (the entire situation was so odd that Lyn's bloodlust was forgotten in the madness).

"Blast… There was only… supposed to be a lone… girl… you, Lyndis," the last bandit managed to cough out before succumbing to his wounds.

"Wh-what did you say?" Lyn asked the bandit leader. Unfortunately for her, he couldn't respond, having died just moments ago.

"Lyndis?" Mark wondered out loud. He and everyone else all heard the dying man's last words.

"I suppose that confirms my theory," Kent remarked. "But just to be sure, I'll have to ask you one more question."

"Um, are you royalty or something?" Serra asked, completely confused.

"What the hell is going on?" Mark added, echoing the sentiment that he, Erk, Serra and Lyn were all holding at the moment.

"Lady Lyndis, are your parents Hassar, the Lorca Tribe's chieftain, and Madelyn, Lord Hausen's daughter?" Kent asked plainly.

"Yes, they are- or rather, were. They were killed along with the rest of my tribe three years ago," Lyn replied, a dour look on her face. Evidently, it was still a sore subject for her.

"Then it's official," Kent said, glancing at Sain. Both of them knew what to do now- the pair dismounted their horses and got down on one knee, bowing their heads.

"Lady Lyndis, I swear my complete loyalty to you as a knight of Caelin," Kent declared.

"Lady Lyndis, I swear my complete loyalty to you as a knight of Caelin," Sain followed up. Now that both of them had declared their fealty, they both rose to their feet.

"With all due respect Your Highness, we'd like to have our horse back and an explanation for everything that's transpired in the last thirty minutes or so," Erk stated calmly, having almost gone forgotten in the background.

"Well in that case, gather around and get comfortable. We've got a long story to tell," Sain said while sitting down, trying to relax now that the battle was over.

The other five didn't hesitate to sit down now that the adrenaline had worn off and the physical exertion from the battle started to take effect. With everyone settled in, Kent began the tale.

"As Lyndis said before, her mother is Madelyn, who is Lord Hausen's daughter. Lord Hausen is the marquess of Caelin."

"As she is the current marquess' granddaughter, she's first in line for the throne when he eventually dies. Unfortunately, no one has seen her up until now, so instead the title of Marquess Caelin went to Lord Hausen's younger brother, Lord Lundgren.

"Wait, what happened to Lord Hausen then? Why is Lundgren suddenly Marquess?" Erk asked.

"Did Lord Hausen… die, then?" Serra inquired, genuinely worried about what happened to him.

"He's not dead, but he is dying. The official reason is that old age is starting to catch up with him, however…" Kent trailed off, aware that Sain had more knowledge on the subject he just brought up.

"There's been speculation that Lord Hausen's decline in health has been orchestrated by Lord Lundgren in a ploy to claim the throne for himself. Many who have connections to the nobility or work in the castle have described Lord Lundgren as ambitious and jealous. Since the Marquess had been in good health up until recently, the most common theory is that his brother poisoned him somehow, and now Lundgren has the throne with his brother unable to perform his duties." Sain explained.

"However, this is all just speculation up to this point. None of these theories have been proven true," Kent added. "But then again, it's not like anyone's been able to investigate the claims being made- thus far, almost no one has had the courage to stand up to Marquess Lundgren. Almost no one, that is."

"And that's where we come in. You see, the former and rightful Marquess knows that his brother is not only a tyrant, but an incompetent ruler as well. To make matters worse, he's well aware that he is not long for this world. So he sent us- his two most trusted knights- to find you, Lyndis, for two reasons: to see his beloved, long lost granddaughter for one last time and to overthrow his corrupt brother before he sends Caelin into ruin." Sain said, laying out Lord Hausen's orders.

"Please Lyndis, travel back with us to Caelin. The people and your grandfather need you," Kent pleaded.

"Umm, I…" Lyn was stunned at their story; she had no clue what to do or what to think.

And that's where Mark came in. "Lyn, let's talk about this for a minute, okay?" He said as he pulled her aside, away from the other four people in the circle.

"You're supposed to call her Lady Lyndis now!" Kent shouted. Mark ignored the formality as he started talking to Lyn.

"So, what do you think of their story?" Mark asked.

"Well, I don't know what to think… but we should travel with them. If my grandfather is still alive, he's the last of my family! I've lost too many people close to me already, I don't want there to be one more."

"I see your point, but how do we know they're not pulling the wool over our eyes?"

That made Lyn hesitate slightly- they had only met these two knights a few hours ago, and they knew even less about the travellers whose horse they robbed.

 _I suppose it's possible that these men could be deceiving us,_ Lyn thought to herself. _But at the same time, they did help us out back there._

After thinking about it for a little while, Lyn came to a decision. "Mark, I think we should trust the knights."

Mark nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. Besides, even if they are lying to us and we refuse, we can't beat them and the other two in a fight."

Lyn and Mark went back towards the other four to announce their decision. "Kent, Sain, we believe your story. Mark and I will travel with you to Caelin," Lyn declared.

"And so will Erk and I!" Serra chimed in happily.

"I really hate my contract right now… fine, Serra and I will lend you our services. But there's still one thing that needs to be addressed. Lady Lyndis?" Erk asked.

"Just call me Lyn. What is it, Erk?" Lyn replied.

"We'd like to have our horse back."

 **Author's Note: Jesus, this is by far the longest chapter I've ever written. I would feel proud of myself, but then I realize two things: one, there are one shots longer than this chapter, and two, I'm a Chargers fan. Now I've got to cry myself to sleep.**


	3. Sword of Spirits

**Author's Note: Sorry about the delay- I've been kinda lazy and dealing with some stuff lately. I'll try to update faster later on down the line, especially since I have other stories planned.**

"Sword of Spirits"

June 18, Night

Mark, Lyn

Bulgar, Sacae

With the battle over and the story told, the six young travelers unwinded for the rest of the day as they traversed the land, either keeping silent or maintaining small talk. Eventually, when night time hit, they all settled down and prepared to sleep.

Of course, they weren't in an inn, so it was decided that two people would stand guard while the other four slept. If all of them were asleep, they were suspect to being robbed, kidnapped, killed, or perhaps some awful combination of all three.

Mark and Erk were chosen to be the first ones on guard duty that night.

"Hey Erk, about the hit and run earlier… I just wanted to apologize for that. It's just, I thought that those two cavaliers were following us, and Lyn and I were just trying to get away."

Silence from the purple haired mage.

"So, uh, are we okay?"

This time, Erk had a response. "Apology accepted. At least you bothered to return the horse. And at any rate, I don't want to know what would've happened if we resisted any further."

"I like to think Lyn wouldn't have the two of you executed for treason." Mark's sarcastic comment got a chuckle out of the mage.

"Well, she hasn't gotten to that point. At least not yet," Erk replied. "All things considered, she's one of the most noble, well, nobles I've ever met. Some of my past experiences have been rather… unpleasant."

"Really? Which nobles have you met, exactly?"

"I'd rather not talk about them."

Erk's privacy ultimately won out over Mark's curiosity as he decided not to press the question any further. _I probably shouldn't be talking to Erk too much anyways; after all, we are on guard duty._

After a while, their shift was over, and it had gone over quietly. When the others eventually took over guard duty, it was silent as well.

~June 19, Dawn~

With everyone awake and having eaten breakfast, there was no reason to stay. So Erk put out the campfire that he had started and easily kept maintained thanks to wonder of magic and the travellers were off. After the hectic battles and chases and thievery of yesterday, they were hoping that today would be somewhat more quiet and peaceful in comparison.

It was- for about twenty minutes.

"Please help!" An elderly woman shouted in their direction. In an instant, they all turned to see where the voice had come from.

"What is it?" Serra asked.

"Ruffians have taken over the ancient temple where the Mani Katti lies. There are also innocent people in there that they've taken hostage. Please help us, I beg you!"

The old lady didn't need to say anything more.

"Lead us towards the temple, then," Lyn responded, a determined look in her eyes.

 _Shit, bandits again. As skilled as she is, we can't afford to have her going out of control on the battlefield._ Mark thought as they were being escorted to the temple.

"Here it is."

"Thank you, ma'am," Sain said, his voice devoid of the flirtatious tone that nearly everyone had come to expect out of him.

 _Wow, who knew he could act like an actual gentleman around women?_ Mark thought as he surveyed the area. "Okay everyone, listen up," The tactician declared, a plan now formulated in his mind.

"Here's how we're going to do this. It looks like there are two entrance points. The first one is through the front door, and the second one is at that unstable wall over there. We'll attack both of them at once- Kent, Sain and Serra, you two are going through the front. Erk, and I are going to use our magic to break down the wall. Lyn, you're also coming with us. When you hear us cast our spells and the wall crumbles, that's your queue to bust through that door. Now be careful; we don't know how many bandits are inside. Everyone ready?"

 _Damn, he came up with all of that in what, six minutes?_ "Yes." Kent replied, as did everyone else.

"Okay. Let's do this." And with that, the group of six split up into teams of three.

It took Mark, Erk and Lyn a few minutes to get to the aforementioned wall. Thankfully, there was no guard to patrol the perimeter, so they were able to sneak up undetected. Now that they were at the entry point, Erk and Mark began to observe the wall.

"That part in the bottom right hand side looks less fortified than the rest of it. Look, some of the rocks are loose," Erk whispered to Mark.

"Yeah, it is. There's bit of a hole in middle left hand side as well. I'm thinking if we hit both of them, the wall is going down," Mark thought out loud.

"You're right, it should. Especially if we cast our spells at the same time," Erk added.

"Alright. Lyn, get back." She did as Mark said.

"Okay Lyn, I want you to go in first and draw their attention. Erk and I will provide support from the backlines with our magic."

"Understood."

"Good. And Lyn, try to keep your cool this time."

No response from her. And also no time to think about it right now, they had a temple to break into. "Mark, are you ready?"

"Yeah, I am. On your spell, Erk."

Erk wasted no time in casting his spell, aimed for the bottom right section of the wall. The moment the fireball flew out of Erk's hand, Mark had one of his own going towards the middle left hand side.

 _Well, would you look at that. It really was unstable._

~Main Entrance~

"Okay, that's the signal. Sain, now!"

In a rare moment for the cavalier, he silently did as his red-haired partner instructed. They combined both of their weapons to break down the relatively flimsy door, whose locks did next to nothing to stop them.

"Remember to stay behind us, Serra!" Kent shouted as he and Sain charged headfirst into the trio of angry ruffians that were also headed straight for them.

 _No worries. I think we all know I stand no chance against any of those guys._

The pillars inside the temple provided a slight advantage to the bandits, as they could dance around them. It was during indoors battles like these where riding on horseback was a drawback, as the advantage their mounts gave them of superior mobility was neutralized by the confines of the building. While not impossible, battling indoors always proved much more difficult for the cavaliers.

Regardless of difficulty, however, one thing remained abundantly clear: Kent and Sain were knights of Caelin. They would save the people who had been taken hostage, and they certainly would not be killed by a few undisciplined ruffians. It would be a disgrace to all of Caelin.

Chuckling darkly to himself, Kent raised his sword, ready to strike. He couldn't see his green-clad partner, but he knew he was doing the same.

 _For Lady Lyndis!_

~Mani Katti Shrine~

Sure, the wall may have been rushed, and as a result, poorly fortified and unstable. Not like these brigands knew- none of them had jobs building houses on the side. The thought process that went into rebuilding the wall that they had torn down on their way in amounted to little more than "Let's just throw the same bricks we destroyed back on there and pray to the gods that no one notices."

Sadly for them, their "brick" wall wouldn't go unnoticed, and if in fact the gods did exist, then they certainly wouldn't listen to the likes of Glass, who was trying to take the Mani Katti for himself.

His efforts to claim the sword so far were going about as well as his crew's attempt to rebuild the wall.

"Come on now, ya old piece of shit!" Glass exclaimed in frustration as he pulled, having lost track of how many times he had tried and failed to extract the sacred sword.

The priests that were tied up in the same room had been observing Glass' futile efforts for well over an hour now. Although the temptation to laugh was quite strong, they knew he could kill all of them in under a minute if he so desired.

Just as Glass was about to go back for one more shot at pulling out the sword, he was interrupted by one of his men entering the room.

"Glass, we're under attack! They're trying to retake the temple and we need your help!" The bandit exclaimed, sweat running down his body.

 _Ugh… why do I work with these worthless sacks of piss?_ "I'll be out there in a moment! Now go!" He exclaimed, sending the bandit away. "And don't any of you move. Don't even think about it!"

 _I don't think we can considering you've got us all tied up,_ One of the priests thought as Glass stormed out of the room with his inferior sword in hand.

~Side Entrance~

Lyn ended up getting two easy kills in an instant, as the bandits were clearly not expecting the wall to be broken down. The surprise, along with being partially blinded by the dust, left them helpless to the Sacaen swordswoman.

Mark noticed that Lyn kept striking the bandits with the same hateful look in her eyes. "Goddamnit Lyn, we don't have time for this! Kent and Sain need our help!" Lyn, noticing the situation at hand, left the dead fiends and went with Mark and Erk to provide assistance for the cavaliers, who were having some trouble with the enemies out in front.

So with the two initial guards down, Lyn, Mark and Erk went down towards the main entrance to help Kent, Sain and Serra take care of the ruffians there. Being attacked from both sides meant that they were also easy prey for the seasoned cavaliers.

A few moments after they finished off the initial wave of enemies, Glass emerged from the room where the Mani Katti and the monks he had taken hostage were being held. Although he was quick, and fairly strong, he simply couldn't outrun or outmuscle five armed soldiers. Even with the Mani Katti, he would've stood no chance. It wasn't long before he hit the ground in a pool of blood surrounding him just like the rest of his crew.

"Oh, you've saved us and the temple! We can't thank you all enough!" The oldest priest exclaimed.

"Thank the gods for your help! I don't want to know what else those fiends could have done," Another priest, who was a good deal younger than the first one, stated.

Serra was currently working on Kent's arm, which had suffered a minor cut, but that didn't stop her from basking in the moment. "Yeah yeah, I know how much butt I kicked. I don't blame you for being in awe. These guys all helped a little bit too."

Mark couldn't help but laugh a bit at Serra's comment. "No worries, we were just passing on by and someone told us that the temple was under attack."

The older monk suddenly shifted his eyes towards Lyn. "Young one, are you from Sacae?" His instinct told him that she was, judging from her clothes.

"Oh- yes, I'm from the Lorca tribe. My name is Lyn, by the way..." There was an undeniable hint of sadness in her voice as she trailed off. The monks knew why; news of the Lorca tribe's massacre had spread very quickly.

"Lyn, I'm sorry about what happened to the Lorca. Let us provide you and your friends with some supplies for your journey. It's the least we can do."

Lyn would have refused his offer, but she knew they would need all the food and water they could get. Plus, she got the feeling they wouldn't take "no" for an answer. She nodded yes and the younger monk went off to get the aforementioned supplies.

"Oh, wait! Since you've saved us, I should show you all the Mani Katti while you're here. This way!" Out of curiosity, everyone followed the monk. None of them had seen the Mani Katti before, but supposedly it was a legendary weapon that only one person could wield.

 _I wonder who that could possibly be?_ Mark thought. _Whoever the blade chooses, that person would have to be strong, brave, and kind. So in other words, that is not a sword for me._

"Go on, Lyn- touch it. According to Sacean tradition, you will be blessed with good fortunes on your travels if you touch the Mani Katti. Well, usually; there are exceptions, as you saw with that swordsman back there," The monk explained, his last comment getting a few chuckles out of the group.

"It would take a special kind of bad luck to not be blessed after touching a sword that awesome," Serra chimed.

"Or stupidity," Erk added.

"Not even Sain has that mix of incompetence and bad fortune," Kent said while gesturing vaguely in his partner's direction.

Sain nodded along. "Yes, even I don't- hey, wait a second!"

"Well, Lyn?" The monk was standing next to the sacred sword, wanting Lyn to touch it.

Not wanting to wait any longer, she slowly made her way towards the Mani Katti. She reached for the handle with her sword hand…

And before she knew it, the blade was glowing white. An aura of shock emanated from everyone in the room; even the monk, who had seen many travellers touch the sword, had never seen the blade glow in all his years of watching over the temple.

"Uhh, does this normally happen?" Mark asked, an expression of disbelief on his face.

"I have spent over twenty years here, and this is the first time I've seen anything like this." The monk replied simply. _Is she truly the one to wield the Mani Katti?_

 _Am… am I your wielder?_ Lyn slowly began to remove the sword from its longtime home.

Although the Mani Katti was a sword, incapable of speaking, the fact that she was currently holding it in her hands was as clear an indication as any that the sword said "Yes."

 _Holy shit…_ Mark thought.

 _I suppose it makes sense. She is royalty, after all, and quite the swordswoman._ Kent mused to himself.

 _Well, damn._ There were no words for Erk, or any of them, to speak.

 _Beautiful, kind, strong, and chosen by a legendary sword? It's like she's an angel who's been personally sent down here to do the work of the gods!_ Sain thought in his usual, romantic manner.

 _Okay, even I have to admit that's pretty awesome._ Even Serra had nothing to say.

"One thing is abundantly clear. Lyn, the Mani Katti has chosen you to be its wielder. Take this sword with you on your journey," the monk declared.

"A-are you sure?" Lyn asked, still having not comprehended that the sword had chosen her, nor that the monk was approving of her taking it.

"Oh, of course I am! You're the first and only one who has been able to draw the sword from its sheath; it wouldn't do at all for you to put it back. Besides, I think the Mani Katti has grown bored of this old place. It needs to travel, to see what lies beyond- and it has chosen you for that journey. Go on now, brave Lyn!"

Soon after, the younger monk came in with the supplies as promised, and he too was shocked at what he was seeing. "Oh my god…"

Mark took the supplies from him as he and everyone else walked out of the temple. "Thank you again for the food and water!" He shouted as they were walking away.

"And the sword as well!" Lyn added on with a wave. The two monks waved back until they eventually faded out of their view.

"What on earth just happened?" The younger monk asked, stunned.

"We got rescued, and the Mani Katti has found a new home."

 **Author's Note: Right now, I'm currently prioritizing this story, though I do have plans for some other stories down the line. PM me if you want to know about the details, concept, etc. I'd like to see how some of you guys respond to the initial draft I have prepared.**


	4. Band of Mercenaries

**Author's Note: It might be April Fools' Day, but I can assure you this is not a joke chapter.**

"Band of Mercenaries"

July 24, Night

Mark, Lyn

Ransacked Village

"Wh- what the hell happened here?" Mark asked to no one and everyone, stunned at the sight that lay before him.

Serra wore the same shocked expression as all the others. "It's… god, it's awful… the place has been completely destroyed."

Kent and Sain both opted to remain silent; for both of them, it was a gesture of respect for the dead. The two knights were undoubtedly saddened at the display, but for them it had become all too common to see in their travels; Caelin had had a serious bandit problem for quite some time.

Erk stared pensively at the destruction that had been left behind. Like Kent and Sain, he had seen ruined villages like this before, but it didn't make it any less painful to observe.

And as for Lyn-

"Was this the work of bandits?" Her soft tone of voice was as terrifying as when she was angry, perhaps even more.

"Yeah, it probably was," Erk replied. Who else would have destroyed a peaceful village so cruelly?

"Oh my god. Guys, look over here…" Serra had found a pile of corpses besides a destroyed house. Men, women and children all lay bloodied and broken, their lives quite literally cut short.

"Erk, you're wrong. This was definitely the work of bandits." Somehow, Kent didn't vomit after he spoke up.

"We can't let them get away with this." Lyn's face and voice lacked the usual anger it normally contained when she was dealing with bandits.

 _Well, if there's one positive to take out of this goddamn disaster, it's that Lyn isn't losing herself right now._ Mark mused to himself as he morbidly observed the remains of a once thriving town.

As for Lyn, she was on her own, brooding over the sight that lay before her.

 _I'm killing them. Every last one of them. These men- no, animals, deserve to be mangled just as badly as the bodies on that pile. I'll kill them slowly, painfully, and-_

"...more importantly, Lyn? Are you okay?" Mark checked up on Lyn, noticing that she had been staring off into the distance for a few minutes now.

"Yes, I am."

"You sure? It looked like you were daydreaming back there."

"No, I wasn't."

Mark wasn't exactly convinced that Lyn was paying attention to him, so he decided to fill her in on the new information again. "Anyways, we managed to find two survivors. They don't know where the bandits are going now, but they overheard them planning to raid another village. We're thinking we should-"

"Wipe them from this earth. That's what we're going to do. Tell the others we march."

Mark was taken aback by the firm tone of her voice. "Y-yes. Right away."

~July 26, Afternoon~

After almost two days of marching, the travellers came across another village. Thankfully, there were no corpse piles this time as the town hadn't been ruined by bandits. Lyn objected to them stopping to rest in the village at first, but they had all been marching for a rather long time and needed to resupply. She eventually caved and allowed them all to rest in the peaceful town.

The residents were quite hospitable, which was a relief for Lyn and her (as of late) not so merry band of travellers. After the horrible sight they had taken in, the march was quite silent. Granted, their marches were usually silent, with occasional small talk sprinkled in during moments, but the atmosphere was much more grim this time around. At the very least, however, they weren't turning on or blaming each other- most of the thoughts echoing in their minds were reflecting on why the town was raided, or about slaying the bastards who did it as soon as possible so they could no longer infect the world with their presence.

Arriving at the village hadn't changed their sentiment. But it was nice to take a break from such unpleasant thoughts, even if it was only for a short time. The group split up and went about doing what they would normally do off the battlefield.

Sain was flirting with two sisters, and as usual, he was swiftly rejected while Kent watched on in amusement from a distance.

Though Erk was Serra's bodyguard, he happily left her side and went to the tavern to get himself a drink along with Mark. The purple haired mage needed some alcohol to deal with Serra's antics and both of them needed a drink to deal with the aftermath of a massacre he had just seen not too long ago.

As for the pink-haired cleric, she was giving and receiving fashion advice and gossip from some of the other women in town.

Lyn, meanwhile, was all alone, lost in her thoughts.

Needless to say, they were not pleasant.

Even worse, she was all on her own. The violent thoughts kept brewing in her head, infecting her mind. She thought of the cruelest, most painful way to get her revenge on those goddamn-

"...bandits. Lyn, are you listening to me?" Kent asked, seeming to just now catch on that Lyn wasn't paying attention.

"Um, what?"

"I asked around town and ended up finding an archer who knows where the bandits have gone."

"Lady Lyndis, I presume? The name's Wil. It's a pleasure to meet you," The archer extended his hand towards Lyn, a smile on his face. He was dressed quite simply, like all of the other travellers. He had a blue pair of gloves that was the same color as his shirt, dark brown trousers and light brown boots. On his back he was carrying a quiver of arrows and a sturdy looking bow, and Lyn also noticed some pieces of light armor around his shoulders and chest.

Lyn returned the handshake, and in an instant her expression went from brooding to smiling. "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Wil. Just call me Lyn, by the way- I'm more used to that."

"You got it, Lyn. I've got to admit, this is like, scary and exciting at the same time. I mean, you're the first royal I've ever met and talked to, but you're just like a normal person, but I don't mean that in a bad way. Then Kent filled me in on your story, and I have to say it's truly remarkable and sad at the same time, and then he told me about your mission, and I was all 'Holy shit! So you're planning to take down the Ganelon Bandits AND overthrow Marquess Lundgren?!' At that point, I was really into it, you know what I'm saying?"

Wil stopped when he realized that he had been talking too much, so he figured to apologize… which involved more talking.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I've just been talking on and on. But what I'm trying to say is: can I join you guys? Like, not just to guide you to the bandits, but I mean long term. I'm not going to lie, I like you guys. You seem a lot better than some of the other travellers I've seen. Also, not to brag, but I'm pretty damn accurate with a bow and I should really stop talking before my foot becomes permanently lost in my mouth." After Wil finished his long monologue, Kent pulled Lyn aside, away from Wil.

"Should we let him join us, Lady Lyndis?" Kent asked.

"Yes. Let's get Wil set up right away." Lyn responded instantly.

"Lady Lyndis, I beg your pardon, but I just met him. We don't know yet if he or his information on the bandits is trustworthy, and I just met him no more than an hour ago. I think we should wait for a while before we fully accept him into our group," Kent objected. He liked Wil from what he had seen so far; the archer seemed to be an affable fellow, and it didn't look like he was just carrying around a bow to show off. But Kent just met him not too long ago, and he still had some questions that needed to be asked.

"Okay. I've heard your points and taken them into consideration. Now here's my decision. He joins us immediately. You will introduce him to everyone else and make sure he is treated fairly. You have some questions about Wil, you go ask them on your own time. Otherwise, I won't be needing the services of you and your partner anymore, and that's if you're lucky. Understood?" Lyn countered, overriding his objections. Though she waited for his answer, she knew it was just a formality at this point.

Being a trained knight, Kent was not someone who was easily intimidated. He was now. Her voice, normally gentle if somewhat intense on the battlefield, had taken on an angrier, malicious tone that he wasn't expecting out of her. Her face, however, was even more frightening. She maintained the same sweet smile she had given Wil when she was talking to the archer, even as she threatened both him and Sain. The smile was little more than a warm and caring mask to the darkness that lay below. No longer did she look like the kind-hearted girl from the plains that they had found. Instead, it was as though she was replaced with almost an entirely different person inside her body.

"U-understood," Kent said, his voice trembling- something that never happened with him. Until now, that is.

After the longest seconds of Kent's life, where Lyn kept wordlessly staring him down with the same expression on her face, she eventually relented and gave him a response. "Okay. He'll be leading tomorrow's march then." Kent then began to walk away, relieved that the situation seemed to be over and Lyn had calmed down.

But unbeknownst to him, the Sacaen swordswoman still had one last thing to say. "Oh, and one more thing, Kent."

The ginger haired cavalier swore at that moment that his stomach fell out of his rear end. "Yes, Lyn?"

"I also trust that you won't tell anyone about our little conversation. Tell me- is my faith in you and your perverted partner justified?"

"Y-yes. Absolutely, Lady Lyndis."

"Good."

As Lyn went back to tell their newfound archer that he was now part of the group, Kent could only stand in shock and fear.

 _What the hell have I gotten myself into?_

~August 1, Afternoon~

The travellers (now known as "Lyndis' Legion" thanks to Wil) made short work of their march towards the village. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, the village had taken quite the ravaging by the time they made their way over.

"Damnit!" Lyn cried, punching a nearby wall in frustration.

"We need to split up and check the village for survivors, and also to see if there are anymore brigands here. Sain, go with Lyn! Kent, ride with Erk! Wil and Serra, come with me!"

Not wanting to waste time, the legion quickly split up and fanned out around the village. Sain and Lyn went up north, Mark, Erk and Serra checked the eastern part of the village, while Kent and Erk went down south.

Luckily, the damage wasn't quite as bad as it was in the last village. Some of the buildings remained relatively unscathed, and there were much more survivors this time around, all of whom thankfully knew to hide in the stable buildings. Perhaps these bandits hadn't finished their raid yet? If so, it was crucial to hunt them down before they could terrorize more innocent citizens.

All of the people in the village were unarmed. All but one.

A female voice and figure that Lyn recognized slowly emerged from the town tavern. "Lyn? Is that you?"

"Florina?" Lyn asked, surprised. What the hell was she doing out here?

"What are you doing here?" They both asked at the same time.

"Lady Lyndis, if you don't mind me asking, how do you know her?" Sain chimed, genuinely curious. Normally, he would be flirting with this new woman, but there were more pressing matters to attend.

"She's an old friend of mine who used to visit the village. Don't worry about her- she can be trusted. Florina, are the bandits still here?"

"Y-yes, they are. I'm sorry Lyn, I was just passing by and then all of this happened. I wanted to fight, I really did, but there was only one of me and so many of them…" Florina trailed off as she looked down at the ground in shame. Lyn didn't blame her, however- just one pegasus knight (in training) wouldn't be able to take on the numerous bandits that had no doubt come to raid the village of all it's food, water and other supplies. No, it was the inhuman scoundrels who preyed on the weak who deserved all of the blame and punishment, Lyn thought to herself.

"Don't worry about it, Florina. We're here now. Are they still around?" Lyn asked, putting her shoulders on the shy pegasus knight in a reassuring gesture. When Florina nodded in response, that was all Lyn needed to give out the order.

"Florina, get your pegasus. We're driving them out." Florina did as she was told and went to retrieve her pegasus, Huey, while Lyn and Sain readied their weapons. "Sain, inform the others that the bandits are still here somewhere and we're going to fight them off."

"Got it," the cavalier replied quickly before taking off.

"Fight us off, huh? We'll see about that now that yer friends are gone, little girl," A gruff voice responded. Two more fighters also flanked him. All three of them were carrying axes.

"Well, I do believe this is unfair," Lyn remarked dryly, eliciting a chuckle out of all three brigands. "You should've brought more men."

~Town's Southern Section~

"Kent, I need you to stay on the front lines! Wil, take down that archer on the roof! Erk, cover the right side!" Mark barked out as he fired off another lightning bolt, connecting once more with the same bandit. The first one stunned him, and the follow up sent him to an early death.

The two groups teamed up together and were now attempting to hold off the wave of bandits that had suddenly ambushed them. Thus far, they had taken some injuries, but thankfully everyone could still fight. Serra remained close behind, ready to use her healing staff at a moment's notice. Just in case, however, the cleric also carried a dagger in her right hand. She definitely wasn't as skilled as the other members of the legion, but it was still better than being completely defenseless.

"There are still bandits in this town! Lady Lyndis says we're going to fight them off!" Sain exclaimed, having found the other travellers.

"Oh, thanks for the information, like we weren't doing that already. Go back and help Lyn, we've got this covered!" Mark ordered as he readied another spell.

Sain didn't need to give his verbal confirmation. He simply turned right around and went back the way he came.

~Town's Northern Section~

To the bandits' frustration, the girl hadn't taken a single blow yet. The untrained brigands simply couldn't compete with her speed, and she had already taken down one of them.

"No wonder you people go around raiding villages. Not so intimidating once you have to fight someone with an actual weapon, now are you?" Lyn teased with an obvious edge of anger in her voice.

Frustrated, the two bandits charged straight at Lyn, axes raised. She was able to stab the bandit on the right side while he was still lunging forward, and then easily ducked out of their predictable attacks. The brigand who had gotten stabbed was now a howling mess of flesh and spilling blood, not too far off from joining his friend just a few steps away from him.

Realizing that he wouldn't stand a chance, the last brigand attempted to run away from Lyn, but was soon cut off by Sain. When he turned the other way, he was staring down Lyn and Florina.

"Well, I do believe this is unfair…" the bandit trailed off, resigned to his fate.

Sain, Lyn and Florina soon regrouped with the others. For Kent, Mark, Serra, Erk and Wil, it was a hard fought battle, but as soon as the other three cut off the bandits' flank there was simply no chance of them escaping.

"Thanks for the help. But who's the pegasus knight?" Mark asked while Serra was tending to a wound on his back.

"Florina, she's a friend of mine. We can trust her, don't worry. Anyways, we're not done yet- apparently there are still some more bandits holding a hostage in that building over there," Lyn stated matter-of-factly. The last bandit gave them information on where the rest of his companions were, hoping that they would spare him. The first part of his plan worked. The second did not.

With this newfound information, Mark began racking his brain for the possibilities. After a while, he formulated a strategy. "Okay, listen up everyone. I have a plan…"

~Town Hall~

"No, p-please! I don't want to die! I-I'll do anything you ask of me!" The boy wasn't lying; he really would have done anything asked of him, considering he was tied up and a dagger just a hair's length away from his throat.

His plea earned him some hearty laughter from the six bandits in the room. "I like the way you beg, boy. I think we can make you quite useful in no time," Migal, the leader of the bandits, declared as he slowly walked towards the hostage, putting his filthy hand on the boy's cheek.

Suddenly, another bandit who had been looking out one of the windows spoke up. "Shit. Migal, they've taken out everyone else. They're closing in on us right now!"

There was silence for a brief moment before Migal broke it. "Well don't just stand there ladies! Get in position, now! And you listen to me, boy: stay right where you are, in this room. If you don't move, you don't get hurt. Got it?" In response, the hostage wordlessly nodded. Satisfied with his answer, he closed the door and joined the rest of his crew.

Suddenly, a well-aimed fireball took down the door, and several unfamiliar, unfriendly faces started pouring in. Lyn, Mark, and Erk all charged into the building, swords and magic ready.

"Ha ha ha!" One bandit laughed. "You must really have a deathwish, only sending in three people to-" Suddenly, his monologue was cut off by a perfectly placed arrow to the heart.

Before long, the other bandits began charging towards the three intruders. An unfortunate axe wielder instantly met his end at the Mani Katti, while two more swordsmen were slowed down by arrows before being finished off by fire and thunder.

With the initial wave repelled, the trio went back on the offensive. Lyn was engaging in single combat with another swordsman, while Mark and Erk teamed up on another bandit, who was having trouble trying to dodge the hail of fireballs and lightning bolts coming his way.

The axe wielding bandit did not last long, and was soon overwhelmed by the flurry of magic spells being thrown in his general direction. The swordsman fared slightly better in single combat, but another perfectly placed arrow from Wil immobilized him long enough for Lyn to get the kill.

"I think that's everyone," Lyn said tiredly after removing her sword from the ruffian.

"Wait, wasn't there one more?" Erk asked, frantically looking throughout the building, wondering where the last bandit was. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, he didn't have to conduct a thorough search.

"Right you are, pretty boy." Suddenly, a filthy looking bandit with grey hair, a red headband, and partially torn clothes emerged from a side room- with a boy around the same age as Mark in one hand, and an axe in the other.

"Let the boy go," Erk demanded.

"On one condition," Migal replied. "I let him go, you let me go."

The tactician, swordswoman and mage trio all looked at each other for a brief moment, and then came to their decision.

"Fine. You let the boy go right this instant, and I promise I won't kill you," Mark said.

Putting away his axe on his back in exchange for a dagger, Migal cut the rope tying his hostage. As soon as he was free, he ran towards Mark, Erk and Lyn. Soon after, all three of them lay down their weapons.

Though Migal was certainly angered at them for killing his entire crew, he wasn't stupid. If he attacked back, he would kill one, maybe two if he was lucky, and then swiftly be cut down. Make no mistake, he wouldn't forget this humiliation, but he would go back to gather some reinforcements before taking them on again. Slowly, just to make sure they wouldn't try a surprise attack on him, he backed away towards the rear exit.

When he opened the door, he was greeted by a pair of cavaliers and a pegasus knight.

"Now now lads, we had a deal. If I let the boy go, then you wouldn't kill me," Migal stated, a hint of panic in his voice.

"Wrong. Mark said that if you let the boy go, he wouldn't kill you," Kent corrected.

"Hey now, you all are knights, right? You're supposed to uphold the law and all that, right? Well, I surrender, see?" Migal responded as he dropped both of his weapons. "So now you have to let me go, right?"

After a few wordless seconds, Sain decided to break the silence.

"I like the way you beg, boy."

 **Author's Note: Man, I suck at writing action scenes. Anyways, if you like the story, be sure to follow and favorite. Whether you have praise, criticism or both for this story, leave me a review as well. I want to know what I'm doing right and wrong. Anyways, I'll see you all later.**


	5. In Occupation's Shadow

**Author's Note: I get the feeling this chapter is gonna be a little different from the others.**

" _In Occupation's Shadow"_

 _July 29, Night_

 _Mark, Lyn_

 _Abandoned Building_

 _Lyndis' Legion_

"We should set up camp here."

"You're right Lyn, we should… assuming that the building is clear. Alright everyone, secure the perimeter and then check the interior. Everyone split up into pairs," Mark ordered.

After checking the outside and assuring that there were no bandits waiting in the trees, the legion got ready to enter the building. Preparing to go indoors, Kent, Sain, Erk, and Serra left their mounts outside. Wil checked the western portion with Florina providing support from above, while Erk and Kent patrolled the east. Noticing another room in the middle of the building, Serra, Mark, Lyn and Sain decided to clear it together.

"I don't see anything here!" Wil announced.

"This section is clear also!" Kent shouted.

"Looks like we're clear. We just have to check that last room over there," Mark said after he and his comrades were done checking the central room. All that was left was a small door inside the room that no one had opened yet.

Suddenly, a cough caught the attention of the four fighters.

"Did you hear that?" Serra asked, pulling her knife out.

"Yeah, I did," Lyn replied, unsheathing the Mani Katti. Mark and Sain also drew their weapons.

"We know you're there! I want you to slowly open the door and slide any weapons you have towards us! Then, you'll put your hands in the air and we'll inspect you for anything else you may be carrying!" Sain shouted, following standard procedure. Despite what Kent and many other recruits thought, he took his training very seriously and was a competent cavalier. When he wanted to be.

"I-I'm sorry! I can't move right now!" The voice replied. It was female.

Mark went back into thinking for a moment before whispering another order. "Serra, open the door when I give you the signal. Then the rest of us are going to clear the room. Got it?"

Wordlessly, all three of them nodded. Serra put her hand on the doorknob, and not far behind were Mark, Sain and Lyn. Using the fingers on his left hand, Mark began counting down. When he got to one, Serra opened the door and they came barging in.

"No! Please don't! I promise I'm unarmed!" The woman pleaded frantically, knowing that these strangers could kill her in a moment.

"Lyn, Serra, make sure she doesn't have any weapons. Sain, you and I'll check the room." Before Mark began his inspection, he looked back at the woman lying on the bed. "Sorry, we can't afford to take any risks."

"She doesn't have any weapons on her," Serra said.

"And it doesn't look like there are any in this room either," Sain chimed.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's your name and what exactly are you doing here?" Lyn asked.

"My name is Natalie. I-I'm just a normal villager, I promise you. I'm out here looking for my husband, I heard he was in this area."

"And what exactly is your husband doing here?" Mark asked.

"I-I have an injury on my right leg. In fact, I've had it since I was a child. My husband, Dorcas, is trying to make enough money to get my leg treated, but I hadn't seen him in quite a while, so I was concerned and decided to look for him."

"Do you mind if I take a look at your leg then?" Serra chimed, preparing her healing staff.

"Yes, of course. Thank you." Serra then began working on her injured limb.

"Mark." Lyn gestured for the tactician to step outside of the room, which he did.

"Lyn?"

"So, you think we should stay here?"

"Why, of course. This is a nice building that can hold all of us."

"It's not the building I have a problem with. Do you think we can trust her?"

"Who, Natalie?"

"Yeah, her."

"What kind of question is that? She's unarmed and on her own. I don't think she's taking down all eight of us any time soon."

"True, she probably won't be killing us. But…"

"But what?"

"Doesn't this look suspicious to you at all? Who just decides to travel completely on their own to some place they've never been to before, with a leg injury no less, and also entirely unarmed?"

"If you ask me, Lyn, that indicates that either she's very brave and dedicated to her husband or very stupid. Not suspicious."

"So, you think her alibi is totally trustworthy? We don't know if she's telling the truth or not. In fact, we don't even know if this 'husband' of hers is real!"

On one hand, Mark wanted to scream at Lyn. Why the hell was she being so untrusting of this harmless woman? But then again, as a tactician, he could see the reasoning behind her suspicion. They HAD just met her, after all, and there was no way to confirm her ali-

"Guys, you might want to look at this," Serra suddenly said, disrupting the conversation that Mark and Lyn were having.

When they entered the room, they found Sain and Serra standing over an unconscious Natalie.

"Is she okay?" Mark asked, the slightest hint of concern in his voice.

"Yes and no. She's just resting right now, but this leg injury is really bad. I did all I could with my staff and a vulnerary, but she's going to need more advanced medicine and a more experienced cleric if her leg is gonna function like normal again," the healer explained.

Mark and Lyn exchanged a look, and then stepped back outside again.

"Well, I think we can believe that part of her alibi. Come on Lyn, I highly doubt she's got anything up her sleeve. We've made sure she's unarmed, checked the building and the perimeter… I really think that she's harmless."

Lyn mulled it over for a moment before finally coming to a decision. "Alright Mark, I trust you. And Natalie as well. We'll stay the night here."

"There you go, Lyn. Alright, I'll have you, me, Wil and Florina on patrol. I'll let everyone else know we'll be sleeping here and tell them about the situation with Natalie."

 _July 29, Night_

 _Forest Outside Abandoned Building_

 _Ganelon Bandits_

"Is this the place, Carjiga?" One bandit asked. He, along with their leader, had over twenty more men waiting close behind them.

"Yes it is. Looks like those jokers are staying here for the night," Carjiga replied. He then stood up, and began talking to his fellow bandits.

"Now listen up boys. These fuckers killed Migal and many more of our guys. We can't just let that shit happen, now can we?" To his delight, the response Carjiga got from his fellow brigands was a chorus of resounding "no's".

"So here's what we're going to do. We'll surround the building. I want you all to cut off every possible escape route. Then, once we have them surrounded, we break in." Once again, Carjiga got the reply he wanted- his men began cheering at the prospect of killing Lyn and her merry band.

"And when we get in there, I don't want to see you boys killing anyone right away. No, that's too good for these bastards. We are going to tear them apart, limb by limb, and have them beg for mercy until they can't beg no more. Now then, do we have any questions?"

This time, Carjiga's response was mostly silent. Mostly.

"Do we have any torches?" One bandit asked.

"Torches?" Another replied while looking through his supply bag for one. "Sorry, I don't got any."

"Yeah, neither do I."

"Ain't no torches here."

"Shit, I forgot them."

"Hold on a second. Why the hell are you asking for a torch?" Carjiga asked, puzzled.

"Well, 'cause it's dark outside! I can't see a goddamn thing right now that isn't right in front of me! You all know I have a bad eye!" The bandit cried in response.

"Wha- we weren't supposed to bring any fucking torches tonight! They woulda given away our ambush!" Carjiga shouted, growing more frustrated by the second.

"You can't have an ambush if you can't see who the fuck you're supposed to kill in the first place!"

One bandit decided to (nervously) offer his opinion on the subject at hand. "Uh, Carjiga…"

"What?!"

"I know that the idea of doing an ambush at night is great, because they can't see us…"

"There ya go! Now here's a man who knows what he's talking about!" Carjiga exclaimed, happy at the apparently like minded bandit.

"...but then again, we can't see them either…"

"YOU TOO?! ARE YOU FUCKING SHITTING ME RIGHT NOW?!"

"Honestly guys, I think we should just call this off…" Another bandit suggested. Carjiga, however, would have none of it.

"No, we are not calling off the fucking raid! We finally found the little fuckers who killed Migal, and now you want to back off? We have over three times the forces that they have! Who fucking cares that we can't see outside, the building is bound to have some goddamn lighting in it!"

While the bandits kept arguing amongst themselves, one particular fighter amongst them began mulling over his options.

 _Hmmm… if I can sneak past these bandits and warn them of the danger, then they'll probably let me join them. Honestly, I'm probably better off joining them. I'm not making enough money for Natalie with these guys, and even if they don't give me anything, then at least I'm not a bandit anymore. Who knows, they may even have someone who can help out Natalie. Alright then. Let's just maneuver our way past these loud bandits…_

Even though Dorcas was a big man, and therefore not the stealthiest person around, the brigands' voices were raised too high for them to notice much of anything else.

 _July 29, Night_

 _Abandoned Building_

 _Lyndis' Legion (Wil and Florina)_

Being an archer required excellent vision and hearing. As Wil possessed both of those qualities, he proved to be a natural. And of course, having a reliable telescope never hurt anyone's vision. Looking through the telescope, he noticed quite a large number of bandits carrying swords and axes waiting in the forest. However, it looked like they were more intent on arguing amongst themselves than actually trying to kill them.

When Florina came back towards his direction from the western wing of the building, he gestured for her to come down to him. She saw his signal and descended her pegasus.

"There's a big ass group of bandits waiting in the forest. I'd say they outnumber us three to one, and that's a conservative estimate," Wil explained.

"Eep!" Given her previous experience with bandits, Florina was understandably concerned.

"You go wake the others up and tell them about the situation. I'm going to tell Lyn and Mark, okay?" Florina may have been shy, but she wasn't stupid. Shortly after the archer gave his instruction, she set off to warn everyone else of the danger.

 _July 29, Night_

 _Outside Abandoned Building_

 _Lyndis' Legion (Mark and Lyn)_

"Mark, Lyn! There are about thirty bandits waiting in the forest straight ahead!" Wil shouted.

"Oh shit! Have you warned the others?" Mark asked back.

"Florina's on it right now," the archer responded.

"Looks like we're clear on this side for now. Lyn, do you see anything?"

No response. "...Lyn? Are you okay?" Mark asked again.

"Shhhh," Lyn replied, her sword raised, trying to focus. "I think there's someone here." Mark quickly followed suit and drew his own.

 _I knew something was up with this place,_ Lyn thought to herself as she tried to make out where the faint sound of footsteps came from.

…

…

"Wait, I come in pea-"

 _There he is!_ Lyn lunged forward and stabbed the source of the footsteps. The man let out a cry of agony, confirming that she hit more than the air, and soon the man she had attacked was little more than a crumpled, bloodied heap on the ground.

Smiling triumphantly, Lyn stood over the dying man with Mark and Wil not too far behind. "How many of your lowlife comrades do I have to kill before they finally learn their lesson?" she said in a cold tone that caught both Mark and Wil off guard.

"N-Natalie… I'm sorry." Shortly after uttering those last words, he bled out from his wounds.

Suddenly, the smile fell from Lyn's face, and the trio realized who had just been killed. "Wha- Natalie? Is he-"

"Her husband, Dorcas? Yeah, sounds like it," Mark interrupted, cutting her off with an edge of anger in his voice.

"No, no no no," Wil nervously laughed out. "There's no way that's Dorcas. It can't be… right?"

"Yes, there is a way. That's why his last words were about Natalie and why he went on his own towards a building with several armed people in it. Because he was just some crazy bandit." Turning away from Wil, Mark looked Lyn right in her eyes, anger in his.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Lyn?! He said he came in peace and was just trying to help his wife!" If it wasn't for Wil holding him back, Mark would've been right in Lyn's face.

"He was armed!" Lyn cried in her defense. "And how was I supposed to know he was Natalie's husband?!"

"Well maybe if your first solution wasn't just to stab anyone wielding an axe, he would've been able to explain his situation!" Mark shouted in response. By now, everyone else had made their way outside the building, along with Natalie, who was still resting on Kent's horse, and saw the argument that the duo were having.

"You're a tactician Mark, not a fighter! I don't know if they taught you this back home, but things move a lot faster on the field than in meetings!" Lyn knew that Mark was both, but at this point she was focused only on defending herself.

"Yes, I know goddamnit! Besides, you know just as well as I do that I fight on the battlefield along with the rest of you! And even if I wasn't out there fighting, the fact remains that you killed a man who didn't want to fight and just wanted to help his wife!" With danger looming, the other members began walking towards Mark and Lyn to try and break up their argument.

"We don't have time for your arguing! There are about thirty armed men waiting to attack us, and we have to retreat now!" Kent shouted as he made his way inbetween the arguing swordswoman and tactician.

"Dorcas? No, Dorcas, what happened?!" Suddenly waking up due to the commotion, Natalie quickly spotted out her husband's corpse laying on the ground. In a matter of seconds, she turned into a sobbing mess, crying into her dead husband's bleeding chest.

"Well done, Lyn. Well fucking done," Mark said bitterly before breaking eye contact with her and giving out another order. "Retreat, now! Into the forest, all of you, move it!" With that, almost everyone began fleeing into the seemingly endless trees behind the building.

Almost everyone.

Natalie was still crying over Dorcas' corpse, while a shocked, guilt ridden Lyn still remained frozen in place. Sain was also still on his mount, and right beside the two. As if suddenly noticing the bandits that began moving towards them, Lyn suddenly knelt down by the grief-stricken woman's side.

"Look, I'm sorry about what I did to your husband, but we need to get out of here. Those brigands are closing in on our position and we need to go now."

Though Natalie stopped crying, she remained silent. Tears remained in her eyes, but on her face was a mixed expression- one of utter contempt for the Sacaean swordswoman, and deep underneath lay an emptiness with the realization that there was no reason for her to live now that her beloved was gone.

"Natalie, we have to-" Lyn was suddenly cut off by Sain.

"Lyn... She's already gone."

As Lyn came to the harsh realization that Sain laid out for her, she climbed up on his mount. For some reason, she kept looking back towards Natalie and Dorcas as they got farther away, and even as the Ganelon Bandits surrounded the two lovers. She looked back until the trees and lack of light eventually blocked her vision of them entirely.

 **Author's Note: Well then… I guess that was a little different.**


	6. Breathe

" _Breathe"_

 _August 5, Night_

 _Lyn, Sain_

 _Tavern Outside Araphen_

 _Lyndis' Legion_

It was quickly decided that Araphen would be the next place that they would stop. Since they couldn't quite make it there tonight, they decided to stop and sleep at a tavern in a village just outside of their desired location. Everyone ended up splitting up in pairs to different rooms- Erk went with Florina, Wil with Kent, Serra with Mark, and Sain with Lyn.

To put it lightly, the next week of marching was quite tense. A little bit of time and the occasional skirmish with brigands didn't make anyone forget about Natalie and Dorcas. While Mark and Lyn were civil enough with each other to discuss where they would stop next (Araphen in this case) as well as help one another in battle, the tension between them remained quite obvious. The conflict was not exclusive to them, either- everyone else eventually heard the whole story, and subsequently formed their own opinions on the matter.

Serra agreed with Mark's line of reasoning- why would Dorcas bother fighting them all on his own? So if Lyn could've just waited for one moment, then he could've told his story, lent his axe to their cause, and then helped his wife. But no, she had to attack Dorcas instead, and now both him and Natalie are gone, two innocent people, are gone. Serra understood her reasoning, and didn't hate Lyn for what she did, but she still thought she made a massive mistake.

Erk, meanwhile, sided with Lyn on the issue. After analyzing the situation extensively, he concluded that she made the right choice given the circumstances. True, Dorcas ultimately didn't mean to fight, but she couldn't have known that in her position. And to hesitate on the battlefield would be to get yourself killed. Then again, he understood why Mark was so angry at Lyn as well.

Most others, however, didn't feel as strongly on the incident as some. Though Florina found herself spending more time with Lyn than usual, it wasn't due to any opinions she held- it was because Lyn felt extremely guilty about killing Dorcas and she wanted to be there to support her friend. Kent also chose not to pick a side, not wanting to cause division among the ranks (or at least not create any more divide than there already was. And he knew better than to try and oppose Lyn after their lost conversation.) Sain tried to ignore the incident as much as possible, while Wil also didn't have much of an opinion, being the friendly, calm person that he was.

Even though Lyndis' Legion had a dedicated tactician with them, they didn't need one to see that the tension and divide among their rather small numbers was not a good sign. Restoring unity among the ranks was now of the utmost concern for Mark.

 _If we're going to function like a working unit again, then I'll need to clear the air as soon as possible. The way we're going, some of us are going to leave, or worse… I can't have that happening. I'll need to talk to Lyn the first chance I get,_ Mark thought before he went to sleep.

Meanwhile, the Sacaean was locked in another battle. The enemy was no bandit, or soldier. Instead, it was guilt. Joining up with it was her imagination, which procured images of Dorcas and Natalie.

 _Why, Lyn? I just wanted to help you… I just wanted to help my wife…_ Dorcas asked, the stab wound in his torso still visible and bleeding.

 _I-I'm sorry! I really am!_ Lyn cried out. _I never wanted to kill you, Dorcas!_

 _Your apology is worthless. Just like you._ Natalie chimed. _How would you react if someone killed your husband, huh?_

 _What now, you want to kill everyone else's loved ones ever since yours died?_

 _With people like you around, it's no wonder your tribe got slaughtered!_

 _Is this the best that Caelin can come up with? Because if it is, then I'm not impressed._

 _Why'd you do it, Lyn?_

 _Why couldn't you just wait for one moment?_

 _Why weren't you there when your people got massacred?_

 _Why are you trying to be anything more than the Sacaean savage you are?_

 _No, stop! Please stop! Just, just… get out of my head!_

 _Why, Lyn?_

 _Why?_

 _Why?_

 _Why?_

 _Why?_

"Lyn, are you okay?" Sain asked as she woke up. Slowly, Lyn lifted herself up into a sitting position.

"Yes, I am. I just had a bad dream," Lyn responded. Sain gave a slight, but not condescending, laugh, knowing what Lyn was going through.

"It's tough, you know? On one hand, you know you're tired, and you want to go to sleep. You need to go to sleep. But when you close your eyes, the people you've killed come back from the grave and into your mind."

"Wha- how did you know?" Lyn asked, curious as to how he pinpointed her predicament so precisely.

"I've had nightmares after a battle before, Lyn. If you haven't, then you've been fighting for too long or you're on your way to seeing the people in your dreams," Sain replied.

"That's… actually rather accurate. And thoughtful," Lyn conceded.

"Well, I speak from experience. Not intelligence." Suddenly, a silence fell between the two. Being not quite ready to go to sleep yet, and not convinced that Lyn was either, Sain decided to speak up again.

"So, you and Mark are still uncomfortable around each other?" The cavalier asked.

"...Yes, we are," Lyn replied absentmindedly, tuning him out as she normally did whenever they talked. She knew that eventually, she would have to address the incident with him again, but for now, she really didn't want to get into a long winded discussion about the morality of her actions.

"I know that you've probably been told this more times than you can count, but you really should try to get back on your old terms with him," Sain added. Even if Lyn didn't respect Sain much outside of his performance on the battlefield, he still wanted to see the unit in tip-top shape, physically and mentally. Sain hated people being tense around each other, and he also knew that their chemistry would be vital to completing their objective. So if the unit was going to be in tip-top shape, then the leader and tactician needed to be on the same page, Sain figured.

"Yes, I'll try, but-"

"But what, Lyn?"

"You know that just having a friendly conversation with Mark isn't just going to clear the air between us."

"Well, you're right. Just a friendly conversation won't clear the air. No, what you need is a friendly conversation and…" In an attempt to intrigue her, he trailed off, hoping she would finish his sentence.

"And what, Sain?" It was late, and by now Lyn started to doze off.

"And then you need a bedroom all to yourselves." Sain added, slightly disappointed that Lyn didn't make the connection on her own.

"Okay, okay, sure, I'll consider it…" Lyn said before yawning and dozing off, her half-shut eyes slowly closing as she laid down to go to sleep.

 _Well, that's unfortunate. I was hoping she would retain some of my advice, or at least have some kind of reacti-_

"WAIT, WHAT?!" Lyn cried out, eyes wide open, sitting up as she suddenly realized what Sain was implying. Before they were killed, her parents and some of the other children in the tribe had "the talk" with her. Although they were both separate occurrences, they were both equally awkward to sit and listen through.

 _There it is,_ Sain thought, a lecherous smile growing on his face. _This is where the fun begins._

"J-just what are you g-getting at, you pervert?!" Lyn asked hastily, her face suddenly heating up.

"What I'm getting at is getting to the good stuff between you and Mark, milady!" Sain continued, his grin growing ever wider as he continued on while Lyn stared at him in embarrassment.

"I've seen how Mark looks at you. I've seen how you look at him. After observing both of you for two months, I can safely say that you and Mark have certain… feelings about each other. Repressed feelings, the kind that deep in your heart of hearts, you know are there, but don't want to acknowledge since to address them would be to go into entirely new territory, and also out of fear of rejection. The kind that you never had and didn't think you would ever have, until one day they creep into your mind, where at first, you write them off, thinking they'll pass, but then they slowly occupy your more and more of your thoughts afterwards, until your mind is entirely consumed by that person and you can't think about anyone or anything else. The kind that need to be addressed, lest that person walks away forever and you have regrets for the rest of your life, thinking about how you let the perfect person, the perfect opportunity, slip by your fingers." By the time he had finished his monologue, Sain was wearing a bitter grin that looked out of place on his face.

Whatever response Lyn may have had was taken away from her at the cavalier's surprisingly profound words.

A bitter laugh escaped Sain's mouth. "Like I said before, milady- I speak from experience. Not intelligence."

Slowly, Lyn's curiosity was overtaking her embarrassment. "You, you used to…?"

"I've talked to many women for many reasons in my life. Although mostly, it's been flirting. A distant second would be official business. However, there was one exception. One particular woman that truly captured my heart. So yes, despite what you may think, I have been seriously involved with another woman in my life."

"How serious were you two?"

"I was thinking about marrying her."

Lyn recoiled slightly. "Oh my… you must've truly loved her."

"Yes, I did. And I still do."

"Sain, if you don't mind, could you tell me more about her?"

After thinking about it for a moment, he eventually decided to fill her in, a smile crawling back onto his features. "Well for one, she was amazing in the bedroom-"

"Nevermind, I think I'll try going back to sleep." Suddenly, the grin dropped from his face as he tried to recover the situation.

"No, wait, I was just joking! Well, yes, she was fantastic in the sack, but also so much more. She was beautiful, strong, charming, and smart. It seemed like there was never a dull moment with her around. We got along incredibly well. I drove her to better herself, and she drove me to better myself. It's like the two of us were made for each other." Although his description of his former lover sounded like an incredibly cliche romance novel, the far off look in his eyes and the wistful tone of voice he had taken on told Lyn that he wasn't lying.

As though he was aware of what he sounded like, Sain continued, "Yes, I know, I probably sound like some poorly written romance novel right now, but I can assure you, all of it is true. Besides, Robin hated those- she preferred much more challenging books."

"Oh, Robin? That was her name?"

"Yes."

After hesitating for a moment, Lyn decided to delve back into more difficult territory. "Sain, if you don't mind me asking… what happened between the two of you? How come you're not, well, together anymore?"

"...Do you really want to know?" Sain's voice had quieted down to a whisper; Lyn almost didn't hear him at first. It sounded like he was either too traumatized or ashamed to talk on the subject. When she eventually realized what he said, she nodded for him to continue.

Taking a deep breath to gather his composure, Sain began to recall the end.

"You know what the worst part about this is? It's not like our last time seeing each other was some big, emotional farewell. No, it was the exact opposite."

"So I take it you two ended up on bad terms?" Lyn asked.

"No, not at all. At the time, I was still in love with her, though I wouldn't blame her if she's fallen out of love with me."

"Then what happened?" Lyn asked again, wanting Sain to get to the point.

"Nothing, that's what. I haven't seen her in over a year now."

"Wha- how is that possible?" Lyn asked in confusion.

"I don't know either. I still remember my last day with her. It was just a spring day, we had a good time just relaxing in the city. She said she would see me tomorrow… but she never did."

Lyn began peppering Sain with questions in rapid succession. "Why? Why would she just leave? Where did she go? And how did she just disappear without a trace?"

"I don't know the answer to any of those questions. If I did, then I like to think I'd have found her by now. But make no mistake, I've tried to find her. I have tried, goddamnit, and I will keep searching for as long as I need to. Even if I just find a corpse, even if just she's some sick, twisted version of what she used to be, even if she's in love with someone else, I'm going to find her. After, of course, you've taken your rightful place as Marquess Caelin."

Yet again, Lyn found herself at a loss for words. She had to gather herself before speaking again. "Yes, of course. You know what, Sain? I will help you find Robin in any way that I can. Whatever you need, I will provide you with once I am Marquess."

Now it was Sain's turn to be surprised. "Th-thank you, Lady Lyndis. But first, we need to overthrow that scoundrel Lundgren."

"Oh we will, Sain. And by the way?"

"Yes?"

"Just call me Lyn. I mean, I've told everyone else that I don't care about the formalities."

 **Author's Note: This chapter is a little bit shorter than the others. Also, that's right- this story is connected to Awakening. Let me know if you caught the Star Wars reference, by the way.**


End file.
